it's a non-traditional tea place that is very popular; the wait time to make a reservation right now is about 1 month. the inside is decorated with sparkling things all over, and it's quite artsy!
you have to go into each room - they all have different eclectic themes that are elegant, artsy, and unconventional for proper tea, that's for sure.
we ordered the traditional afternoon tea (£24 / person), and i was super excited to get going!
i got an order of blackcurrant and hibiscus tea to go with my finger sandwiches and pastries.
it tasted okay; i'm not going to lie .. i'm a much bigger fan of regular teas, but i felt like having something light that afternoon, so this was the way to go. it arrived in a little pot with a strainer.
look at the little cute sugar pot:
the waiter brought over the tray of sandwiches and pastries, and i almost cried tears of joy - they had everything you could want (:
and of course, a plate of warm miniature fruit scones!
it's served with your personal serving of clotted cream, which is definitely a must for high tea (:
the sandwiches looked amazing, and i couldn't wait to get started and try every single one.
the cucumber and mayonnaise sandwich was served on whole wheat bread, and it was a good start. i felt like the mayo got a bit heavy at times, and i would've liked a bit more cucumber.
of course, in between trying the sandwiches, i had to have some of my scone with clotted cream and fresh fruit jam!
it was soooo delicious (: i don't know how to describe it for you. the jam still had bits of fruit in it, which made it extra amazing. i also went easy on the cream this time because of my last experience had me feeling kinda nauseous afterwards haha.
they had a little fruit skewer with a piece of mousse, fruit jelly, pineapple, and melon.
it was very light and sweet, and tasted wonderful in between my sandwiches and tea. i only wish they gave you more of them! the mousse especially - yum!
the next sandwich i tried was the egg and mayonnaise.
my part of the sandwich actually barely had any egg in it whatsoever, so .. i really can't tell you how it tasted, except that the bread was quite soft and nice.
the cooked ham and dijon mustard sandwich was wrapped in butcher paper and had a little ribbon on it! so cute (:
i really liked it; the mustard was strong and flavourful, and they gave you a lot of ham inside that little mini baguette!
i started on some of the pastries before finishing off the sandwiches; the first one i tried was a little chewy fruit-flavoured pastry that had a piece of fruit jelly on top.
the bottom was both sticky, soft, and chewy. i have no idea what it is, but i know i could've eaten 10 of them!
i also had the little dessert tart with hazelnut ganache .. mm.
i felt it to be incredibly sweet but it went quite well with my tea. the toasted hazelnut on top is an excellent little treat as well.
look at my little profiterole!
it had cream piped into it, and was topped with chopped roasted nuts and powdered sugar. SO GOOD. there's also a little surprise inside: there's a bit of jam as well!
my favourite part of tea time was the smoked salmon sandwich.
i love love love smoked salmon, so this was a super special treat for me, especially since i'm too poor to afford buying it here in the UK. the bread was nice and chewy, and they gave you big pieces of salmon. HEAVENLY!
i finished off the little "meal" with something else that is quite heavenly - raspberry & custard filled macaron.
after eating macarons at Ladurée i haven't been able to get them out of my head, and these were perfect. the macarons were grape flavoured, and the custard wasn't too overwhelming and went perfectly with the raspberries. yum yum yum.
i went around sketch after the meal and looked around because all the decorations were so unique and interesting. look at the men's and women's toilets! (i know, weird to check them out, but look!!!)
with toilets like that, you can't go wrong, can you? haha.
though the tea was relatively expensive, if you can afford it i'd definitely suggest coming here. there's no worry about being super posh and proper; in fact, the tea rooms are filled with chatter and laughter, so you don't have to fidget around and worry about not having your pinky in the air.
sketch
9 conduit street
London, W1S 2XG
